The droll comedy-drama that is George Frideric Händel’s ‘Serse’ (1738) unfurls a tangled romantic daisy chain involving the rival loves of King Serse and his brother, Arsamene, for the beautiful Romilda. On the distaff side, there’s the competing love of Romilda and her sister, Atalanta, for ... Read review
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Advantages: Händel's music; Rasmussen, Hallenberg, Piau, Bayrakdarian; Rousset and Les Talens Lyrique. Disadvantages: Cold production design; occasionally slow staging.
...the rival loves of King Serse and his brother, Arsamene, for the beautiful Romilda. On the distaff side, there’s the competing love of Romilda and her sister, Atalanta, for Serse’s brother, Arsamene. Of this confused quartet, only Romilda and Arsamene actually love one another.
The titular Serse refers to the real-life Persian ruler, Xerxes I (Serse I), described by the Greek historian Herodotus in his Histories, Book VII. The libretto to ‘Serse’ ... ...gently mocking song (‘... un Serse mirate, che d’un ruvido tronco acceso sta;’ – ‘ ... behold Xerxes, all afire with passion for a coarse tree trunk’). In fact, Romilda and Arsamene have previously agreed to meet at the summerhouse, but the intrusion of Serse ruins their plans. Serse blithely orders Arsamene to arrange the marriage, unaware of Arsamene’s romantic liaison with Romilda. (Serse has already forgotten his previous betrothal to Amastre, ...
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